Friday, November 7, 2008

Stop RFK Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is on the current list of potential appointees for President-elect Obama's cabinet. While RFK Jr. has had a very successful political career, the positions for which he's being considered are the EPA or the Department of the Interior.

This cannot be permitted to happen. Why? Because he's a total crank when it comes to science. He believes the vaccine/autism link is plausible and has praised antivaccination movement leader Dan Olmsted--who has continually pushed junk science disproven years ago. He blamed Katrina on global warming (errr) and has opposed the building of wind turbines near Martha's Vineyard on because "it would damage the view" despite the project having support from many other environmentalists. He's got a track record of politicizing science to serve his own needs--and that's bad for reasons that should be obvious.

RFK Jr. must NOT be appointed as head of the EPA. He is NOT a scientist. He does NOT understand science. He does NOT respect science. He is, in fact, a crank, who believes in pseudoscientific nonsense like vaccines causing autism. And when people are cranky and unscientific in one area of belief, it is never restricted to just that area. It reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of science and an incompetence in evaluating the quality of data and scientific information. This is not remotely a partisan letter, this is a plea for your administration not to make a horrible error.

This is a BAD choice. Do not do this or you will alienate scientists from your campaign very early on, not to mention doctors and especially pediatricians. This man is a crackpot, and I simply can not condone his presence anywhere in government.

What is "secundum artem?"

Secundum artem is a Latin phrase meaning "according to the art." It is frequently used to doing something in the accepted manner of a skill or trade; in medicine, it is often taken to mean "use your skill and judgment."

Secundum Artem, then, is a blog about pharmacy written by a pharmacy student. But it is also about more than pharmacy; it is a collection of one man's thoughts about medicine, science, politics, ethics, life, and the connections between them.

Unfortunately, we live in a sue-happy world, so I have to include a brief disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER:This is a personal weblog, and the opinions expressed here are solely those of the author. All medical information on this blog is intended for discussion and entertainment only; it should not be used as a sole source of medical advice, and anyone following any recommendations provided here by the author or by commentors without first consulting a physician shall be required to take full responsibility for the consequences.

Who writes Secundum Artem?

S.A. is written by N.B., a pharmacy student with a lot on his mind. He's a fan of self-reference, irony, critical thinking, and writing blog descriptions in the third person.

Give him a couple more years, and he'll be able to call himself N.B., PharmD, RPh (but probably won't, because that is one pretentious mouthful).